And then ask the Pentagon, NASA or Japan to build an aesthetically pleasing yet durable robot to house the processors, lasers, cameras, internet connection etc.

Then add the ultrasound. The Japanese have created a system that allows users to "touch" holograms using an array of computer-controlled ultrasonic wave emitters with fine points, that when the hologram contacts skin, emit pulses of air that synthesise the predicted sensation via pressure on the skin.

Even if you aren't making a Japanese "cyber-companion", this tech has other applications, like replacing light switches (if you master haptic feedback). They could be in every hospital, office, train, aeroplane and ATM machine to stop lots of people all touching the same stuff. The technology probably won't cost the earth either - MIT are looking to produce a laptop-sized device that could retail for as little as $200 which can produce the holograms. Add the Japanese tech and you have a holographic interface. Add a robot and you have a holographic telepresence.

Reality is starting to sound more unrealistic than science fiction these days. What next? Corporate space-ships sent out to mine minerals that run into hostile aliens? Errr, possibly....if TE article "Fool's Platinum" is anything to go by.

I was surprised to read that, according to one manufacturer, the greatest commercial opportunity for remote telepresence robots is that of boosting productivity by policing staff. I wonder whether these guys should concentrate more on trying to build a time machine that could possibly take them to the 1950s, when, I am sure, their claim could have been considered more appropriate.
In a present time when the business world is debating Marissa Mayer’s move to ban teleworking, with the real problem being employee morale and engagement, policing staff hardly seems like a good take on things.

We can spread the word with to market it to a greater community much quicker with this website. www.4reverie.com is a new crowd sourcing website that also has successful entrepreneurs to help with advice, funding, and networking. It allows users to help each other start-up with avatars on what your individual contributes can be. Its a great way to make residual income and promote what skills you have to help while being able to submit projects of your own.

I wish to be telepresent inside a living human cancer cell, or telepresent inside a jet turbine blade at the moment the first microscopic tear commences, or performing microsurgery one cell at a time inside a living human brain. All after six rounds of step miniaturization in which telepresence technology is used to replicate itself and its means of production in increasingly smaller scale, one-tenth at a time.

"But the greatest commercial opportunity lies in boosting workplace productivity, says Tim Lenihan, head of strategy for Anybots, a manufacturer based in Santa Clara, California. Bosses can keep employees on their toes by embodying themselves in a robot to cast an unexpected eye around the office from home or the road, he says."

Screw these guys, and the companies that buy their technology. When I signed up for working for my employer, I didn't agree to 1984.